Poem for a snowy day . . .

Isabella In The Snow
I sleep and snow falls ...

Settles thickly on windowsills, sags piney boughs,
drifts deeply over graveyard crosses and headstones,
covers familiar streets with zigzags of velvety chenille.
The worn-out neighborhood where I've lived
for too many years transforms to alabaster splendor.

The alarm goes off and he brushes
tangled hair from my cheek,
whispers against my ear that it's snowing.
I peek out expecting a powdery dusting
but everything is buried under layers of white.

I raise the old spring roller shade,
force open my frozen window to breathe icy air,
lean my forehead against cool smooth glass
watch my breath spread in a foggy cloud.
I think maybe we'll be snowed in together all day.

Then I see them in the backyard snow,
a chain of footprints
linking enormous block letters
carved with a broom handle,
letters that make me smile ...

ISABELLA I LOVE YOU

~ Marianne McNamara, 2008